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Why?

When you click "Download" on a Google Drive folder, Drive splits large folders into multiple ~2 GB ZIP files. You then have to download each one, extract them separately, and reassemble — tedious and error-prone.

gdrive-zip talks directly to the Drive API, downloads every file itself, and writes a single ZIP archive (zip64-enabled, no size cap). One command. One file.

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Features

Feature	Details
✅ Single ZIP output	No 2 GB split — zip64 handles folders of any size
✅ Recursive folders	Preserves the full nested folder structure inside the ZIP
✅ Google Docs export	Docs → .docx, Sheets → .xlsx, Slides → .pptx, Drawings → .png
✅ Shared folders	Works for "anyone with the link" and "Shared with me"
✅ Progress bars	Real-time per-file download progress via tqdm
✅ --no-zip mode	Extract directly to a local folder instead
✅ Cached auth	Logs in once; stores a local token for future runs

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Quick Start

1. Install

pip install gdrive-zip

Or run directly from source:

git clone https://github.com/SanjayKumar301/gdrive-zip.git
cd gdrive-zip
pip install -e .

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2. One-Time Setup (~5 minutes)

gdrive-zip uses the Google Drive API, which requires a free OAuth2 credential from your Google Cloud account. You only do this once.

▶ Click to expand setup instructions

Step 1 — Create a Google Cloud project

1. Go to console.cloud.google.com
2. Click "New Project" → give it any name (e.g. gdrive-zip) → Create

Step 2 — Enable the Drive API

1. In the top search bar, type "Google Drive API" → click it
2. Click "Enable"

Step 3 — Configure the OAuth consent screen

1. Go to APIs & Services → OAuth consent screen
2. Choose "External" user type → Create
3. Fill in:
   • App name: gdrive-zip (or anything)
   • User support email: your Gmail address
   • Developer contact email: your Gmail address
4. Click Save and Continue through all steps (you can leave optional fields blank)
5. On the "Test users" page, click "+ Add users" and add your own Gmail address

Step 4 — Create OAuth credentials

1. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials → + Create Credentials → OAuth client ID
2. Application type: "Desktop app"
3. Name: anything (e.g. gdrive-zip-client)
4. Click "Create"

Step 5 — Download and place the credentials file

1. In the credential list, find the one you just created
2. Click the download icon (↓) on the right
3. Rename the downloaded file to credentials.json
4. Place it in the same directory as the script (or the installed package folder)

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3. Run

# Download a shared folder (paste the URL directly)
gdrive-zip https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AbCDeFGhIJkLmNoPQRsTuVwXyZ

# Specify a custom output filename
gdrive-zip https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AbCDe... my_archive.zip

# Use a raw folder ID instead of a URL
gdrive-zip 1AbCDeFGhIJkLmNoPQRsTuVwXyZ

# Download to a directory instead of a ZIP
gdrive-zip https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AbCDe... --no-zip

# Check the version
gdrive-zip --version

The first time you run it, a browser window will open asking you to sign in to Google and approve read-only Drive access. After that, a token.json is cached locally — you won't be prompted again.

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Usage Reference

usage: gdrive-zip [-h] [--no-zip] [--version] FOLDER [OUTPUT]

positional arguments:
  FOLDER      Google Drive folder URL or bare folder ID
  OUTPUT      Output filename (default: drive_download.zip)
              or output directory when --no-zip is used (default: drive_download)

options:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
  --no-zip    Download files to a local directory instead of creating a ZIP
  --version   show program's version number and exit

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How It Works

gdrive-zip <folder_url>
    │
    ├─ OAuth2 login (browser, one-time only)
    │
    ├─ Drive API: recursively list all files & subfolders
    │
    ├─ For each file:
    │     ├─ Regular files  → get_media()
    │     └─ Google Docs/Sheets/Slides → export_media() → .docx/.xlsx/.pptx
    │
    └─ Write everything into a single ZIP (zip64, no size cap)

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File Structure (after cloning)

gdrive-zip/
├── drive_folder_downloader.py   # Main script / entry point
├── credentials.example.json     # Template — copy to credentials.json
├── requirements.txt
├── pyproject.toml
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Note: credentials.json and token.json are excluded from git via .gitignore. They are never committed.

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Supported Google-Native Types

Google Type	Exported As
Google Docs	.docx (Word)
Google Sheets	.xlsx (Excel)
Google Slides	.pptx (PowerPoint)
Google Drawings	.png
Forms, Sites, etc.	⚠️ Skipped (no export format)

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Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• A free Google Cloud project with the Drive API enabled
• credentials.json (see One-Time Setup)

Dependencies (installed automatically via pip):

google-auth
google-auth-oauthlib
google-api-python-client
tqdm

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
credentials.json not found	Complete the One-Time Setup and place the file next to the script
403 Access Denied	Make sure you added your Gmail to the "Test users" list in the OAuth consent screen
404 File not found	The folder ID in the URL may be wrong, or the folder isn't shared with your account
Browser doesn't open	Run on a machine with a browser; or set up a service account for headless use
Google Docs skipped	Export limit exceeded (very large Docs files); retry or open and re-save in Drive

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Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m "Add my feature"
4. Push and open a PR

For major changes, open an issue first to discuss what you'd like to change.

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.

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